Latest news with #TGV
Local France
4 days ago
- Business
- Local France
How France became a world champion of high-speed rail
In 2024, the French rail network carried nearly 130 million passengers - another record-breaking year for SNCF as more and more people take the train in what the network describes as a 'golden age for rail'. French trains are popular - an Ifop study found that almost half of all French people travelled by TGV in the last 12 months, and while cars are still king in France, the study also found that the French prefer to travel by train rather than plane for distances below 500 km. Meanwhile, a separate study found that 78 percent of French people travel by train 'from time to time' - and there's no evidence that the somewhat robust attitude of French rail unions to negotiation is putting passengers off . Listen to the team at The Local discuss France's rail success in the latest episode of the Talking France podcast - download here or listen on the link below The French rail network is not only popular, it's fast - France also holds several international train speed records, the most recent being set in 1990 (515.3 km/h) and 2007 (574.8 km/h). A standard Paris to Marseille TGV trip will commonly reach speeds of 320km/h. (A side note for train fans - Japan's maglev train L0 Series, which achieved 604km/h in 2015, is technically a magnetic levitation track, which means that France holds onto its record.) Advertisement One factor that helped France to build and expand its high-speed rail network is that its construction costs are, relatively speaking, quite low. The Transit Costs project database of projects in 59 countries and over 20,000km of urban rail found that France spends on average €29.71 million per km of high-speed rail line built. While that is slightly above Spain (€21.75 million/km), it's one-tenth of the spend in the UK (€207.9 million/km average). So what's behind the success story of French rail, especially the high-speed TGV ( Train à Grande Vitesse ) services that were launched in the 1980s? Presentation of the TGV on June 15th, 1980 in Chantilly. (Photo by AFP) We spoke to rail experts about some of the factors that have enabled this success. State involvement "France's high-speed rail network has been incredibly successful," Rick Harnish, the executive director of the non-profit High-Speed Rail Alliance , told The Local. Harnish, who lives in Chicago, fondly remembers his first trip on a French TGV. "Our first trip was from Gare de Lyon to Marseille... I thought I understood what high-speed rail was about, and now I really do." "[To build a high-speed network], the most important thing you need is an entity of some nature whose clear job it is to make it happen. "The second step is that the entity needs to have the resources - both financial and personnel - to be successful. And third, you need a strong commitment from the government to get through challenges. In the case of France, that entity is the French national railroad, SNCF," Harnish said. Having a centralised, state-controlled rail operator is also important when it comes to building costs. France has been able to build high-speed lines relatively cheaply and quickly, particularly in comparison to countries like the US and UK, which has meant the rapid expansion of the network. Alon Levy, a Fellow in the Transportation and Land Use program of the NYU Marron Institute and author of the blog Pedestrian Observations, noted France has opted for a more traditional model, rather than a 'globalised' one, which is popular in the Anglophone world. Advertisement "The globalised system means you try to involve international consultancies more in planning, so you use bigger, more expensive contracts," Levy explained. "France does not work that way (...) and as a result, French management costs for subway projects are between five to 10 percent of their hard costs, whereas in the US this starts at 20 percent and just goes up. Keeping experienced managers in the public sector to supervise private sector designers saves money." France also harnesses its in-house expertise for public transport projects. Levy gave the example of the Grand Paris Express, the capital region's ambitious Metro expansion, to build four new fully automated Metro lines at the edges of the 'greater Paris region' READ MORE: Grand Paris Express: The French capital's ambitious expansion plan "The idea is that after they're done planning and building, the bureaucracy will be used to build similar things in the main provincial cities. They realise they have this very competent project delivery vehicle, so might as well use it for things beyond Paris," the researcher added. Advertisement Legal structures A slight authoritarian streak may also help things along, according to Yves Crozet, who now serves as the mayor of the Saint-Germain-la-Montagne commune in the Loire département in central France, who spent most of his career teaching and researching transport economics. Crozet noted that in France, a public body is created by the government to run the transport project. With the Grand Paris Express, the public enterprise Société de Grand Paris was created with the right to collect taxes and raise funds, and then decide between construction bids for the lines. After the public consultation process, French transport projects receive a déclaration d'utilité publique (DUP, or declaration of public utility). Once this has been activated, purchase of land can begin - with compulsory purchases permitted if people don't want to sell up to the railways. "Building high-speed rail in Germany, for example, is harder because it is more difficult to oppose people who do not want to sell their land. Here in France, we are in a centralised system, it's a little authoritarian." Advertisement Geography Then some factors might be considered more luck than judgement, such as France's geography. Crozet said: "The first reason TGV has done well in France is geography. We have a central capital city, and the other cities are smaller. "If you want to go from Lyon or Bordeaux to Paris, then you need to travel a long distance, so it makes sense to build a high-speed network. For example, in Switzerland, you don't need high-speed rail, as it is a small country." This was echoed by Alon Levy, who noted that French high-speed lines tend to be built on agricultural land and involve few tunnels, making them cheaper to construct. It also helped that France had a vast rail network already, which meant that as the TGV was being developed it was often a case of adapting existing lines, rather than building tracks from scratch. Advertisement The best versus the rest But is it fair to say French rail is great - or more accurate to say that French high-speed rail is great? One key fact about the French rail network is that the country is home to over 27,000 km of train tracks - and of that, 2,800km is high-speed rail, or lignes à grande vitesse. That means that nine-tenths of the country's rail does not offer the impressive TGV services, but is a mixture of TER local trains and commuter networks, like the Paris region's Transilien line. "France is really good at transport in cities and for travelling between cities, but it is awful if you need to go from one town to another town," Jon Worth, railway commentator and blogger , who is based in rural Burgundy, told The Local. READ MORE: ANALYSIS: Will France's rural rail networks be revived? "France de facto decided to prioritise Paris, and it is difficult to tell what has been an explicit decision and what has been unintended consequences of perhaps well-intended decisions," Worth said. When building the high-speed network, SNCF opted for a 'hub and spoke' model, connecting major cities to the capital, as well as an airline model, where passengers must reserve seats. "This has turned into profit-maximising, and there is no flexibility in the system. Imagine: you're based in Paris and your grandma is in Toulon. Your grandma falls ill, and you need to travel tomorrow…chances are you won't be able to do it because every train will be full. "SNCF is proud of the fact that most of its TGV seats are full and almost half of its trains sell out, but from a railway perspective, that means that the public cannot get to where they need to be at the last second. There is no spare capacity in the system. "Then on the other hand, SNCF says they don't have the money to maintain the tracks for the old lignes classiques, the historic network of non-high-speed tracks which serve the local TER services. "While the rest of Europe discusses reopening old regional lines, France is talking about how they are in danger of closing. "So France might be better than other countries, like the UK, at high-speed rail, but I would argue that the UK is better at commuter and regional rail than France. Instead of investing in high-speed, the UK has tried to ring every last bit of capacity out of its classic network. "This means that between two medium-sized towns in UK, you might have a train once an hour, while in France, if you want to do the same thing, there might be three trains a day. "Ultimately, it depends on how countries set their priorities, and my preference would be the German strategy over the French one. Even though trains might be behind schedule, they do run regional trains around the clock. "In France, a two-class system has been created on French railways. Anyone will take the TGV, including rich people, but that cannot be said for the TER, which is mainly people who are too young or too old to drive, or too poor to have a car." "I would take the view that it should be normal for any person to take any type of train," Worth said. What do you think of France's railway system? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Local France
6 days ago
- Local France
French word of the Day: Roissy
Why do I need to know Roissy? Because you want to be sure that you're going to the right airport. What does it mean? Roissy - pronounced roughly as whaa-see - is the name of a suburb to the north of Paris. But its more common use is as shorthand for the city's Charles de Gaulle airport. The airport's official name is Paris-Charles-De-Gaulle with the IATA airport code of CDG. Among anglophones it is routinely referred to as Charles de Gaulle, however French people, especially Parisians, tend to use Roissy as the shorthand way to refer to the airport - named after the suburb where it is situated. Advertisement It's commonly referred to as Roissy in newspaper headlines, and French people will also often say 'Roissy' when they mean the airport. This can cause some confusion if you have asked someone to meet you at Charles de Gaulle and they message to say they are "5 minutes away from Roissy". But don't panic, it's the same place. Even the official airport website refers to it as Aéroport Paris Charles de Gaulle (Roissy CDG). Use it like this Les aéroports de Roissy et Orly bloqués par des taxis - Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports blockaded by taxis Tempête Caetano : vols retardés à Roissy, perturbations sur les lignes TGV Ouest, bouchons sur les autoroutes - Storm Caetano: Flights delayed at Charles de Gaulle, disruption on the TGV lines in western France, traffic jams on the motorways Je te retrouve à Roissy à 19h - I'll meet you at Charles de Gaulle at 7pm
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Industry-First! SpiroxLTS Reveals the True Quality of TGV Laser-Modified Vias Accelerating TGV Mass Production
HSINCHU, June 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Professional semiconductor equipment provider Spirox Corporation (TWSE: 3055) has introduced the industry-first SpiroxLTS (Spirox Laser Tomography Scanning) technology. Leveraging a combination of multiple patented nonlinear optical integration technologies, this innovative solution enables non-destructive, contact-free, damage-free direct imaging of laser-modified cross-sections within through glass vias (TGV). SpiroxLTS delivers precise insights into laser modification effectiveness, fully visualizing the continuity and uniformity of modifications within the glass, ensuring that process quality meets stringent design requirements. This breakthrough brings a revolutionary advancement in process parameter control for TGV fabrication and will help TGV manufacturers accelerate their mass production timelines. With the rapid advancement of high-performance computing (HPC), high-frequency communications, AI accelerators, and high-performance servers, TGV technology has emerged as a key process in advanced packaging. TGV offers low dielectric constant, superior thermal stability, and high-density I/O integration, making it an ideal solution for glass core substrates and 2.5D/3D interposer architectures used in cutting-edge packaging. Industry demand for TGV continues to surge, and its growth potential is immense. However, laser modification quality during the front-end processes of TGV has long been difficult to monitor in real time, presenting a major challenge for yield optimization and cost control, especially when transitioning to different types of glass. Derek Chiang, President of Hi-Nano Optoelectronics, a leading TGV laser modification equipment provider, commented that "We highly appreciate and recognize Spirox's industry-first SP8000G laser tomography scan system. It allows us to directly visualize the true distribution of laser modifications inside glass substrates without any destruction. This capability greatly enhances our ability to improve both the performance and quality of our laser modification equipment." Hi-Nano Optoelectronics, as a long-time leader in TGV laser process materials and technology development, highly values the SpiroxLTS technology. They believe it will lay the foundation for data-driven and visualized laser processing, providing a precise platform for both materials R&D and process tuning. The complementary strengths of Hi-Nano Optoelectronics and Spirox demonstrate strong potential for integrated development and mass production applications. SpiroxLTS technology enables visualization of laser-modified layers within glass, a critical capability for advancing the development of high-quality glass core products. While manufacturers relied on destructive inspection methods to indirectly assess laser modification quality during materials development and process optimization, the ability to now obtain direct, non-destructive data significantly shortens development cycles and enhances control over modification uniformity. Ingentec Corporation, one of the few suppliers offering high-quality TGV glass core substrates designed to meet AI application requirements, stated "The ability to visualize laser-modified layers within the glass highlights the superior attributes of Ingentec's glass drilling processes, including roundness, alignment, and sidewall roughness. We are confident that this advancement will contribute to higher production yields and accelerate the mass production of glass core products." According to several leading manufacturers in metallization and build-up processes for TGV packaging substrates, these back-end processes place extremely high demands on via structure and laser modification quality. In the past, the lack of accessible inspection data often created challenges during later phases of production. Validated through practical testing, SpiroxLTS provides a non-destructive inspection that allows manufacturers to implement quality screening as early as the materials verification and process validation phases. This advancement is seen as critical to enabling the stable mass production of TGV substrates used in advanced packaging. Paul Yang, CEO of Spirox, stated that "We are honored that the SP8000G has successfully addressed the long-standing challenge of visualizing TGV laser modifications, and that it has been jointly recognized by leading industry players, including Hi-Nano Optoelectronics, a key laser modification equipment provider; Ingentec Corporation, a Glass Core manufacturer; and Unimicron, a leader in TGV glass substrate technology. In addition to laser modification inspection, SP8000G also enables non-destructive, high-precision inspection of TGV via waist profile, via sidewall roughness, and glass cracking on Cu-plated via walls—capabilities that are currently challenging to achieve with existing TGV inspection solutions. We believe that our SpiroxLTS technology will significantly accelerate the TGV industry's path toward high-volume manufacturing." Paul Yang further stated that SpiroxLTS is already being adopted in high-frequency, high-speed packaging applications, such as glass core and interposer structures. The technology is now applied in materials evaluation, process ramp-up, and mass production monitoring, positioning itself as a key enabler for driving TGV process scalability. About Spirox Spirox (TWSE: 3055) is a leading brand in testing, packaging, inspection, and verification across the Greater China region, providing comprehensive solutions to the semiconductor and electronics manufacturing industries. Our portfolio spans both distribution and own products, covering a wide range of fields including packaging & testing, optical inspection, laser processing, and materials analysis. Spirox is committed to delivering cutting-edge technologies and high value-added services to its customers. Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, Spirox operates additional offices and service centers in Shanghai, Suzhou, Shenzhen. For more information, please visit About Hi-Nano Optoelectronics Hi-Nano Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. specializes in the development of laser precision micromachining technologies and equipment. The company is highly skilled in processing hard and brittle materials commonly used in the semiconductor and optoelectronics industries, including silicon, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, ceramics, zirconia, optical glass, sapphire, diamond, and specialty metals. Hi-Nano provides micron-level precision cutting, micro-hole drilling, and microstructure fabrication solutions. Its services support a wide range of industries, including semiconductors, optoelectronics, AR/VR, automotive, and medical sectors. In addition to serving Taiwan province's hi-tech industry, Hi-Nano's laser systems are also supplied to leading international companies in the U.S., U.K., Japan, and other countries. Hi-Nano also offers contract manufacturing and custom technology development services. For more information, please visit About Ingentec Corporation Ingentec Corporation is one of the few companies in Taiwan that possesses core technologies for laser modification of high-thickness glass substrates. Ingentec focuses on the development and mass production of glass core products. Ingentec has pioneered its proprietary LADY (Laser Arrow Decomposition Yield) process, which integrates laser modification, etching, and post-cleaning of thick glass substrates. This process enables high-precision glass drilling with roundness, alignment, smooth and uniform sidewalls, and supports high-density via designs. It also allows for customized modification structures and via geometries based on application requirements. Ingentec plays a key midstream role in the TGV manufacturing ecosystem, providing the supply chain with stable and high-quality glass materials and process support to help customers accelerate the adoption of advanced packaging technologies. For more information, please visit About Unimicron Unimicron, one of Taiwan's first adopters of Through Glass Via (TGV) substrate technology, has been actively developing this capability for over a decade. In the initial phase, Unimicron utilized Japanese and Korean glass suppliers to perform laser modification and via drilling. Its own TGV production lines are expected to reach maturity in the second half of 2025, at which point Unimicron will integrate TGV processing with its existing ABF substrate manufacturing capabilities. Unimicron aims to achieve vertically integrated mass production starting in 2028, laying a critical foundation for the future of advanced packaging development. For more information, please visit View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Spirox Corporation Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Malaysian Reserve
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Malaysian Reserve
Industry-First! SpiroxLTS Reveals the True Quality of TGV Laser-Modified Vias Accelerating TGV Mass Production
HSINCHU, June 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Professional semiconductor equipment provider Spirox Corporation (TWSE: 3055) has introduced the industry-first SpiroxLTS (Spirox Laser Tomography Scanning) technology. Leveraging a combination of multiple patented nonlinear optical integration technologies, this innovative solution enables non-destructive, contact-free, damage-free direct imaging of laser-modified cross-sections within through glass vias (TGV). SpiroxLTS delivers precise insights into laser modification effectiveness, fully visualizing the continuity and uniformity of modifications within the glass, ensuring that process quality meets stringent design requirements. This breakthrough brings a revolutionary advancement in process parameter control for TGV fabrication and will help TGV manufacturers accelerate their mass production timelines. With the rapid advancement of high-performance computing (HPC), high-frequency communications, AI accelerators, and high-performance servers, TGV technology has emerged as a key process in advanced packaging. TGV offers low dielectric constant, superior thermal stability, and high-density I/O integration, making it an ideal solution for glass core substrates and 2.5D/3D interposer architectures used in cutting-edge packaging. Industry demand for TGV continues to surge, and its growth potential is immense. However, laser modification quality during the front-end processes of TGV has long been difficult to monitor in real time, presenting a major challenge for yield optimization and cost control, especially when transitioning to different types of glass. Derek Chiang, President of Hi-Nano Optoelectronics, a leading TGV laser modification equipment provider, commented that 'We highly appreciate and recognize Spirox's industry-first SP8000G laser tomography scan system. It allows us to directly visualize the true distribution of laser modifications inside glass substrates without any destruction. This capability greatly enhances our ability to improve both the performance and quality of our laser modification equipment.' Hi-Nano Optoelectronics, as a long-time leader in TGV laser process materials and technology development, highly values the SpiroxLTS technology. They believe it will lay the foundation for data-driven and visualized laser processing, providing a precise platform for both materials R&D and process tuning. The complementary strengths of Hi-Nano Optoelectronics and Spirox demonstrate strong potential for integrated development and mass production applications. SpiroxLTS technology enables visualization of laser-modified layers within glass, a critical capability for advancing the development of high-quality glass core products. While manufacturers relied on destructive inspection methods to indirectly assess laser modification quality during materials development and process optimization, the ability to now obtain direct, non-destructive data significantly shortens development cycles and enhances control over modification uniformity. Ingentec Corporation, one of the few suppliers offering high-quality TGV glass core substrates designed to meet AI application requirements, stated 'The ability to visualize laser-modified layers within the glass highlights the superior attributes of Ingentec's glass drilling processes, including roundness, alignment, and sidewall roughness. We are confident that this advancement will contribute to higher production yields and accelerate the mass production of glass core products.' According to several leading manufacturers in metallization and build-up processes for TGV packaging substrates, these back-end processes place extremely high demands on via structure and laser modification quality. In the past, the lack of accessible inspection data often created challenges during later phases of production. Validated through practical testing, SpiroxLTS provides a non-destructive inspection that allows manufacturers to implement quality screening as early as the materials verification and process validation phases. This advancement is seen as critical to enabling the stable mass production of TGV substrates used in advanced packaging. Paul Yang, CEO of Spirox, stated that 'We are honored that the SP8000G has successfully addressed the long-standing challenge of visualizing TGV laser modifications, and that it has been jointly recognized by leading industry players, including Hi-Nano Optoelectronics, a key laser modification equipment provider; Ingentec Corporation, a Glass Core manufacturer; and Unimicron, a leader in TGV glass substrate technology. In addition to laser modification inspection, SP8000G also enables non-destructive, high-precision inspection of TGV via waist profile, via sidewall roughness, and glass cracking on Cu-plated via walls—capabilities that are currently challenging to achieve with existing TGV inspection solutions. We believe that our SpiroxLTS technology will significantly accelerate the TGV industry's path toward high-volume manufacturing.' Paul Yang further stated that SpiroxLTS is already being adopted in high-frequency, high-speed packaging applications, such as glass core and interposer structures. The technology is now applied in materials evaluation, process ramp-up, and mass production monitoring, positioning itself as a key enabler for driving TGV process scalability. About Spirox Spirox (TWSE: 3055) is a leading brand in testing, packaging, inspection, and verification across the Greater China region, providing comprehensive solutions to the semiconductor and electronics manufacturing industries. Our portfolio spans both distribution and own products, covering a wide range of fields including packaging & testing, optical inspection, laser processing, and materials analysis. Spirox is committed to delivering cutting-edge technologies and high value-added services to its customers. Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, Spirox operates additional offices and service centers in Shanghai, Suzhou, Shenzhen. For more information, please visit About Hi-Nano Optoelectronics Hi-Nano Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. specializes in the development of laser precision micromachining technologies and equipment. The company is highly skilled in processing hard and brittle materials commonly used in the semiconductor and optoelectronics industries, including silicon, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, ceramics, zirconia, optical glass, sapphire, diamond, and specialty metals. Hi-Nano provides micron-level precision cutting, micro-hole drilling, and microstructure fabrication solutions. Its services support a wide range of industries, including semiconductors, optoelectronics, AR/VR, automotive, and medical sectors. In addition to serving Taiwan province's hi-tech industry, Hi-Nano's laser systems are also supplied to leading international companies in the U.S., U.K., Japan, and other countries. Hi-Nano also offers contract manufacturing and custom technology development services. For more information, please visit About Ingentec Corporation Ingentec Corporation is one of the few companies in Taiwan that possesses core technologies for laser modification of high-thickness glass substrates. Ingentec focuses on the development and mass production of glass core products. Ingentec has pioneered its proprietary LADY (Laser Arrow Decomposition Yield) process, which integrates laser modification, etching, and post-cleaning of thick glass substrates. This process enables high-precision glass drilling with roundness, alignment, smooth and uniform sidewalls, and supports high-density via designs. It also allows for customized modification structures and via geometries based on application requirements. Ingentec plays a key midstream role in the TGV manufacturing ecosystem, providing the supply chain with stable and high-quality glass materials and process support to help customers accelerate the adoption of advanced packaging technologies. For more information, please visit About Unimicron Unimicron, one of Taiwan's first adopters of Through Glass Via (TGV) substrate technology, has been actively developing this capability for over a decade. In the initial phase, Unimicron utilized Japanese and Korean glass suppliers to perform laser modification and via drilling. Its own TGV production lines are expected to reach maturity in the second half of 2025, at which point Unimicron will integrate TGV processing with its existing ABF substrate manufacturing capabilities. Unimicron aims to achieve vertically integrated mass production starting in 2028, laying a critical foundation for the future of advanced packaging development. For more information, please visit
Korea Herald
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Korea Herald
Industry-First! SpiroxLTS Reveals the True Quality of TGV Laser-Modified Vias Accelerating TGV Mass Production
HSINCHU, June 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Professional semiconductor equipment provider Spirox Corporation (TWSE: 3055) has introduced the industry-first SpiroxLTS (Spirox Laser Tomography Scanning) technology. Leveraging a combination of multiple patented nonlinear optical integration technologies, this innovative solution enables non-destructive, contact-free, damage-free direct imaging of laser-modified cross-sections within through glass vias (TGV). SpiroxLTS delivers precise insights into laser modification effectiveness, fully visualizing the continuity and uniformity of modifications within the glass, ensuring that process quality meets stringent design requirements. This breakthrough brings a revolutionary advancement in process parameter control for TGV fabrication and will help TGV manufacturers accelerate their mass production timelines. With the rapid advancement of high-performance computing (HPC), high-frequency communications, AI accelerators, and high-performance servers, TGV technology has emerged as a key process in advanced packaging. TGV offers low dielectric constant, superior thermal stability, and high-density I/O integration, making it an ideal solution for glass core substrates and 2.5D/3D interposer architectures used in cutting-edge packaging. Industry demand for TGV continues to surge, and its growth potential is immense. However, laser modification quality during the front-end processes of TGV has long been difficult to monitor in real time, presenting a major challenge for yield optimization and cost control, especially when transitioning to different types of glass. Derek Chiang, President of Hi-Nano Optoelectronics, a leading TGV laser modification equipment provider, commented that "We highly appreciate and recognize Spirox's industry-first SP8000G laser tomography scan system. It allows us to directly visualize the true distribution of laser modifications inside glass substrates without any destruction. This capability greatly enhances our ability to improve both the performance and quality of our laser modification equipment." Hi-Nano Optoelectronics, as a long-time leader in TGV laser process materials and technology development, highly values the SpiroxLTS technology. They believe it will lay the foundation for data-driven and visualized laser processing, providing a precise platform for both materials R&D and process tuning. The complementary strengths of Hi-Nano Optoelectronics and Spirox demonstrate strong potential for integrated development and mass production applications. SpiroxLTS technology enables visualization of laser-modified layers within glass, a critical capability for advancing the development of high-quality glass core products. While manufacturers relied on destructive inspection methods to indirectly assess laser modification quality during materials development and process optimization, the ability to now obtain direct, non-destructive data significantly shortens development cycles and enhances control over modification uniformity. Ingentec Corporation, one of the few suppliers offering high-quality TGV glass core substrates designed to meet AI application requirements, stated "The ability to visualize laser-modified layers within the glass highlights the superior attributes of Ingentec's glass drilling processes, including roundness, alignment, and sidewall roughness. We are confident that this advancement will contribute to higher production yields and accelerate the mass production of glass core products." According to several leading manufacturers in metallization and build-up processes for TGV packaging substrates, these back-end processes place extremely high demands on via structure and laser modification quality. In the past, the lack of accessible inspection data often created challenges during later phases of production. Validated through practical testing, SpiroxLTS provides a non-destructive inspection that allows manufacturers to implement quality screening as early as the materials verification and process validation phases. This advancement is seen as critical to enabling the stable mass production of TGV substrates used in advanced packaging. Paul Yang, CEO of Spirox, stated that "We are honored that the SP8000G has successfully addressed the long-standing challenge of visualizing TGV laser modifications, and that it has been jointly recognized by leading industry players, including Hi-Nano Optoelectronics, a key laser modification equipment provider; Ingentec Corporation, a Glass Core manufacturer; and Unimicron, a leader in TGV glass substrate technology. In addition to laser modification inspection, SP8000G also enables non-destructive, high-precision inspection of TGV via waist profile, via sidewall roughness, and glass cracking on Cu-plated via walls—capabilities that are currently challenging to achieve with existing TGV inspection solutions. We believe that our SpiroxLTS technology will significantly accelerate the TGV industry's path toward high-volume manufacturing." Paul Yang further stated that SpiroxLTS is already being adopted in high-frequency, high-speed packaging applications, such as glass core and interposer structures. The technology is now applied in materials evaluation, process ramp-up, and mass production monitoring, positioning itself as a key enabler for driving TGV process scalability. About Spirox Spirox (TWSE: 3055) is a leading brand in testing, packaging, inspection, and verification across the Greater China region, providing comprehensive solutions to the semiconductor and electronics manufacturing industries. Our portfolio spans both distribution and own products, covering a wide range of fields including packaging & testing, optical inspection, laser processing, and materials analysis. Spirox is committed to delivering cutting-edge technologies and high value-added services to its customers. Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, Spirox operates additional offices and service centers in Shanghai, Suzhou, Shenzhen. For more information, please visit About Hi-Nano Optoelectronics Hi-Nano Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. specializes in the development of laser precision micromachining technologies and equipment. The company is highly skilled in processing hard and brittle materials commonly used in the semiconductor and optoelectronics industries, including silicon, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, ceramics, zirconia, optical glass, sapphire, diamond, and specialty metals. Hi-Nano provides micron-level precision cutting, micro-hole drilling, and microstructure fabrication solutions. Its services support a wide range of industries, including semiconductors, optoelectronics, AR/VR, automotive, and medical sectors. In addition to serving Taiwan province's hi-tech industry, Hi-Nano's laser systems are also supplied to leading international companies in the U.S., U.K., Japan, and other countries. Hi-Nano also offers contract manufacturing and custom technology development services. For more information, please visit About Ingentec Corporation Ingentec Corporation is one of the few companies in Taiwan that possesses core technologies for laser modification of high-thickness glass substrates. Ingentec focuses on the development and mass production of glass core products. Ingentec has pioneered its proprietary LADY (Laser Arrow Decomposition Yield) process, which integrates laser modification, etching, and post-cleaning of thick glass substrates. This process enables high-precision glass drilling with roundness, alignment, smooth and uniform sidewalls, and supports high-density via designs. It also allows for customized modification structures and via geometries based on application requirements. Ingentec plays a key midstream role in the TGV manufacturing ecosystem, providing the supply chain with stable and high-quality glass materials and process support to help customers accelerate the adoption of advanced packaging technologies. For more information, please visit About Unimicron Unimicron, one of Taiwan's first adopters of Through Glass Via (TGV) substrate technology, has been actively developing this capability for over a decade. In the initial phase, Unimicron utilized Japanese and Korean glass suppliers to perform laser modification and via drilling. Its own TGV production lines are expected to reach maturity in the second half of 2025, at which point Unimicron will integrate TGV processing with its existing ABF substrate manufacturing capabilities. Unimicron aims to achieve vertically integrated mass production starting in 2028, laying a critical foundation for the future of advanced packaging development. For more information, please visit
